Writings may include research materials, background notes, outlines and synopses, drafts, galley and other types of proofs, printing samples, and published versions of works, as well as publicity, reviews, correspondence (e.g. accompanying letters or fan mail), dust jackets, and related artwork.
Factors to consider when determining arrangement for writings include original order, an author’s output (including both volume and literary genres), and research value.
Drafts and associated documentation may also be found mixed with correspondence, notes and notebooks, clippings files, printed ephemera, and other materials. These writings (e.g. a draft in a notebook) can usually be left with materials in non-writings series, with cross-references as appropriate.
Common literary genres and categories used as sub-series (and, in some cases, as series):
Autobiographical Writings
Articles and Essays
Books
Children’s Books
Diaries. Use when writings predominate. Otherwise, diaries may be filed with Personal Papers.
Edited Works
General Writings. Use as a broad category alongside a sub-series for a specific genre.
Journals. Use when writings predominate. Otherwise, journals may be filed with Personal Papers.
Lectures, Speeches, and Public Addresses
Notebooks. Use when writings predominate. Otherwise, notebooks may be filed with Personal Papers.
Novels
Plays
Poetry
Radio Broadcasts
Radio Plays
Reviews
Screenplays
Short Fiction or Short Stories
Shorter Works. Use for articles, essays, open letters, book reviews, blurbs, obituaries, tributes, short fiction, lectures, speeches, public addresses, outlines, proposals, radio broadcasts, interviews, and other forms. When present in significant quantities or if important, these different forms can be treated as separate sub-series.
Translations
Other Writings. Use for single examples of works that do not belong to other sub-series when multiple sub-series are present.
Writings of Others. Use when not present in quantity sufficient to justify a separate series.
The quantity, nature, and significance of writings will often vary between sub-series, and different approaches to arrangement may be required or applied. As a general rule, sub-series are arranged in descending order of significance (see: Sinclair Lewis Papers, YCAL MSS 268). When multiple sub-series of comparable significance are present, sub-series may be arranged alphabetically by title, with “Other Writings” at the end of the series. Subdivide sub-series if appropriate. “Writings of Others,” when present as a sub-series, is commonly filed last.
File-level and item-level arrangement of writings
Arrange works alphabetically by title.
Arrange materials relating to each title according to the stages of the work outlined in Appendix A: The Creative Process.
Use chronological arrangement for works lacking titles (e.g. diaries, journals, and notebooks)
Optionally, use chronological arrangement for small series and sub-series of general writings (as in the David Gascoyne Collection GEN MSS 529).
File untitled writings (as “Untitled”) at the end of the alphabetical sequence or, if the title of the work can be inferred, by a supplied title in the appropriate place in the alphabetical sequence.
Translations by others of works by the creator of the papers are usually treated as work of the translator and filed under writings of others.